Embrace the Mess

It’s crunch time, and the students need to finish their flow. The students get to take a field trip to re:imagine/ATL’s office to go in-depth with counting bars and complex rhyme patterns, and we break down the mess it takes to make that happen. Permission slips, transportation, building trust with parents and schools. Program Director Julie Foster-Straw joins the classroom this week to discuss navigating the mess of getting students where they need to go.

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected]

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com

Sources for fact segment:
Jost, Kenneth (2007). "Racial Diversity in Public Schools". CQ Researcher. 17(32): 745–767.

Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. pp. 252–264. ISBN 0-465-04195-7.

Theoharis, George (October 23, 2015). "'Forced busing' didn't fail. Desegregation is the best way to improve our schools". The Washington Post.

Student Transportation and Educational Access How Students Get to School in Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, New York City, and Washington, DC Urban Institute Student Transportation Working Group February 2017 

Urban Institute Student Transportation Working Group (February 2017). Student Transportation and Educational Access How Students Get to School in Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, New York City, and Washington, DC
 
Goat accents:
You Say 'Nay,' I Say 'Neigh': Goats Have Accents
https://www.npr.org/2012/02/18/147090051/you-say-nay-i-say-neigh-goats-have-accents

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby

Gavin and Paras continue to push the students, using their the keys to moving forward, story circle, The Hero’s Journey, and Uta Hagen’s Six Steps. The main character, Tee, is solidified, and Kat is selected to play the part. The first verses are coming together.

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected]

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby

In episode six, Gavin stands. Gavin and Paras bring yoga and mindfulness to the classroom with Rutu Chaudhari of the Dharma Project, and confront some of the hurdles students place between themselves and mindfulness. Stay turned til the end of the episode for a special gift. 

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected]

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com

Sources for fact segment:
Demographics on who does yoga.
Characteristics of Yoga Users: Results of a National Survey
Why Your Yoga Class Is So White
Prison Yoga Project
Implementing yoga within the school curriculum: a scientific rationale for improving social-emotional learning and positive student outcomes

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby

In episode five, the students learn how to charge what their work is worth through classroom discussions. More important than time and materials, how do you charge for talent? Gavin and Paras discuss the path to discovering their own worth in their fields.

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected]

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com

Sources for fact segment:
https://www.graphicartistsguild.org/

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby

Paras and Gavin question the students about the creative choices they're making and challenge them to put themselves in the work. The structural tools are used to rein the ideas into a feasible project. Students learn the power of representation after seeing themselves in their project. Gavin, Paras, and Terp discuss their own experiences in representation, and the power that has in media.  

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected].

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com

Sources for fact segment:
The Alien series and the genius of out-of-the-box casting

Bonus: Sigourney's audtion tape

Paras' 2006 Short Film Astoria Park

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby

In episode three, Gavin and Paras work with the students to create a character with a financial problem. Students learn processes to create successful art, including Uta Hagen's 6 steps to building a character. The stakes get raised as the students use the tools to take the creative process into their own hands and take ownership of their roles. 

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected].

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com

Sources for fact segment:
Islamists banned their music. Now Timbuktu is singing again
Mali conflict: Facts, FAQs, and how to help
The battle for Mali’s soul is a battle for its music

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby

In episode two, Gavin and Paras settle in at Frederick Douglass High School, and work with students to create a story around financial literacy. In the process, they learn the barriers students face in their own financial goals, asses the student's individual strengths, and reflect on their own journey.

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected].

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com.

Sources for Facts Segment:
Council for Economic Education: Survey of the States
Champlain College: Is Your State Making the Grade?
Marketwatch: This is what it will take to get colleges to teach financial literacy
Marketwatch: Should colleges require a financial literacy class?
World Bank: Unpacking the Causal Chain of Financial Literacy
US Debt Clock

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby

In episode one, we introduce our teaching artists and explore "the mess". Gavin and Paras introduce re:imagine/COMMUNITY, a 10-week program in which they are tasked with going into Atlanta Public Schools to create film and digital media content with teenagers who have not otherwise had access or exposure to the industry.  This program guides students through the process of coming up with and producing a story they want to tell, something personal, something in their voice, something that speaks to their peers. Not just to tell their stories, but plug students into the industry so they can start getting paid. Gavin and Paras experience their own challenges while learning what roadblocks the students face.

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected].

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com.

Sources for Facts Segment:
A Painful Case: Do Parents Need Lawyers for School Disciplinary Hearings?
Dis-proportionality in student discipline: Connecting policy to research
Racial Disparities in Youth Commitments and Arrests

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby

Teaching Artists Gavin Bernard and Paras Chaudhari navigate challenging circumstances and search for solutions alongside resilient and creative Atlanta Public High School students.

The real, uncensored conversations exist to be an inspiration for other youth-serving educators to share stories of their own work.

Follow Embrace the Mess, @etmpod, or etmpod.com. You can e-mail us questions and comments at [email protected].

re:imagine/ATL is a 510(c)3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax deductible. Support this work at reimagineatl.com.

Sound Design & Score:
Brent Busby